OCT 20-23 | TRADITIONS IN TRANSITION
Oct 22 - Oct 23, 2022
Joe Henderson Lab
PLEASE NOTE:
This page is an archive of a past production
Please visit our calendar for all upcoming SFJAZZ shows.
Original show description below.
Led by longtime drummer Mike Clark, founding percussionist Bill Summers, and saxophonist Donald Harrison, the legendary band founded by Herbie Hancock that pioneered the blend of jazz and funk celebrates 50 years.
Assembled in 1973, the band was conceived as a powerhouse ensemble to take Hancock’s sound in decidedly funky new directions, and their self-titled Columbia debut was a commercial and artistic triumph, selling over a million copies and helping take the jazz-fusion sound mainstream. The tracks “Chameleon” and “Watermelon Man” were epochal breakout hits, and Clark came aboard for 1974’s masterful follow-up, Thrust.
After 1975’s Man-Child and live Japan-only release Flood, Hancock was again changing his vision with expanded ensembles, and the Headhunters continued on without him, recording the Survival of the Fittest and Straight From the Gate in the mid-70s.
The band was largely dormant for two decades, reuniting for 1998’s Return of the Headhunters, and has been active ever since, with New Orleans saxophone great and 2022 NEA Jazz Master Donald Harrison joining the ranks in the mid-2000s. Their latest album entitled Speakers in the House is slated for release on Ropeadope Records on November 4th, 2022.
Mixing funk, jazz, and R&B with the hip-hop sound they helped create via samples of their classics, they will shake the Joe Henderson Lab to its foundations.
Mixing funk, jazz, and R&B with the hip-hop sound they helped create via samples of their classics, The Headhunters will shake the Joe Henderson Lab to its foundations.
A funky celebration of all that is modern and ancient.
pitchfork
A funky celebration of all that is modern and ancient.
pitchfork
Watch & Listen
Herbie Hancock
Watermelon Man
The Headhunters
God Make Me Funky
Herbie Hancock
Watermelon Man
The Headhunters
God Make Me Funky
OCT 20-23| TRADITIONS IN TRANSITION
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